F E L I N E R S

My fondness for Canada is a serendipitious one. I half-heartedly agreed to go for a business trip with Peter after much kicking, screaming and hand-twisting. I remember it was my all time low point; I loathed just breathing the air of New York and wanted so badly to get away from everything American. As for Canada, I had no idea why I grouped Canada as America. That was why I was kicking and screaming. Little did I know that I'd enjoy Toronto so much. It reminded me of being in Melbourne.

I had been behaving ridiculously about everything New York ever since I got back from my backpacking trip in Asia. I had the most amazing experience of my life there. Everywhere I went the places resonated with me and everyone I met touched my heart; some shook my very core. Back in the streets of trendy Soho I felt nothing. All these people whisk pass me and yet I feel nothing. I remember texting Peter saying I have a new way to describe New York - the city with no soul. I just could not feel my heart; I felt absolutely cold and coupled with the assumption that my work permit was never going to come, and that all I'll ever become in New York City was a museum-cum-indie film connoisseur, I was ready to exit on the next flight out.

Back to my Toronto story - I was surprised at how warm it gets there! I was totally under the assumption that Canada is cold all year long and I'd need to wrap myself up even during summer!

I was really amazed at all the ethnic neighbourhood; my favourites include Greektown, Koreatown and Little India. I like that everything was authentic and fuss-free.

K-Town

I also visited Casa Loma, Canada's majestic castle and former home of prominent financier, industrialist and military man Sir Henry Pellatt. An unabashed romantic, Sir Henry engaged the noted architect E.J. Lennox to help him realize a life-long dream - the creation of a 'medieval' castle on the brow of a hill overlooking Toronto. Begun in 1911, it took 300 men nearly 3 years to complete and cost $3,500,000 at that time. Sir Henry enjoyed Casa Loma for less than 10 years before financial misfortune forced him to abandon his castle home.

The house cost approximately $3.5 million and upon completion in 1914, at 98 rooms, it was the largest private residence in Canada.

Notable amenities included an elevator, an oven large enough to cook a steer, two vertical passages for pipe organs, two secret passages in Sir Henry's ground-floor office, three bowling alleys and massive stables a few hundred feet north of the main building. It is huge! Casa Loma has five acres of gardens and an underground tunnel connects Casa Loma to its stables and potting shed.

And oh, it is a popular filming scene too. Parts of the movie X-Men were shot at Casa Loma, which stood in for Professor Xavier's school for gifted mutants. Other films which include scenes filmed at Casa Loma include Chicago, The Tuxedo and The Pacifier.

I also visited the Bata Shoe Museum. I know most Malaysians would go, "Eh? You mean the cheapo brand that you Buy-And-Throw-Away?" Yes, the buy-and-throw-away brand indeed, but only to us Malaysians! Now let me enlightened you okay. When I was in Spain a few years back, I was surprised to see BATA shoe boutiques. They're stylishly designed and decorated, and nothing like the ones we see in Malaysia. That was when I realised that BATA is not a Malaysian brand and that they do a lot more than just school shoes.

Last year when I organised a communications conference in KL, I extended an invitation to the MD of BATA Malaysia to speak on behalf of the multinational corporation. He presented a case study and I remember everyone in the conference was very fascinated at all these BATA history and facts thrown at them in a 40 minutes session. Which Malaysian would have guessed that BATA has 4 business units worldwide that is BATA Europe, BATA Asia Pacific-Africa, BATA Latin America & BATA North America, retail presense in over 50 countries, production facilities in 26 and in its history has sold 14 billion pairs of shoes? There is even a BATA canal somewhere in Europe. The BATA history goes back to 1894 in Czechoslovakia.

The museum on the other hand, has to be one of the most interesting museums that I've ever visited; it features shoe and shoe-related exhibits from Chinese bound foot shoes and ancient Egyptian sandals to chestnut clogs and glamourous platforms. The collections are divided into different sections; North American Indians, Ethnological, Circumpolar, History of Western Fashion, and the Walk of Fame that features a growing collection of famous people's footwear from every arena: artists and authors like Picasso and Margaret Atwood; performers like Mikhail Barishnikov and Glenn Gould; film stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Gloria Swanson; politicians like Indira Gandhi and Winston Churchill; as well as sports figures like Donovan Bailey and John McEnroe.


During my visit there was an exhibition entitled Watched by Heaven, Tied to Earth:
Summoning Animal Protection for Chinese Children that showcased over 200 beautifully crafted Chinese children’s shoes and garments that explores the many meanings and symbolism that Chinese mothers and grandmothers used to protect their precious children. Through an astonishing array of shoes, hats, bibs and accessories dating from the mid-19th century to the present, the exhibition explores long-standing traditions and beliefs that continue to resonate in China. Bee, I wished you were there. You'd be so fascinated by those cutesy animal-themed baby shoes and hats!

Enough about shoes. Possibly the best introduction to the myriad cultural groups which make Toronto their home is a stroll through the bustling lanes in the Kensington Market. It’s a bit of a scene on a busy day, with fishmongers, street musicians, impromptu speechmakers and shoppers all crowding the streets.

During the 1920s, it was known as the Jewish Market. Today, you can sense the city's rich, multicultural mix, obvious in the shops packed with goods from Europe, the Caribbean, the Middle East, South America and Asia. A visit to Kensington is like a sensory trip around the world. It's also a treasure trove of vintage and second hand clothing shops, tucked in among eclectic restaurants and cafés. The Kensington area is a maze of narrow streets and alleys, some of which are lined with Victorian houses. Many of these have been painted in bright colours. During my one week stay in Toronto, I must have gone back several times. I brought the guys there over the weekend too when our flight back to New York was cancelled due to a thunderstorm.

The rest of downtown Toronto look like this:

Chinatown. See Carol, doesn't it look Melbourne-ish? What we call trams, they call streetcars.

The 'audience' at the Air Canada Centre.

Toronto is a mish-mash of modern and historical buildings, with tons of green spaces in between.

The CN tower is the world's tallest freestanding structure on land, and of course, Toronto's landmark featuring indoor and outdoor observation deck, glass floor and a revolving restaurant.

I dare u. To jump on the glass floor. Muahahah.

Lake Ontario from CN Tower.

We rode on the bus that runs every hour from Chinatown to the casino in Niagara Falls. There are no casinos in the city in Toronto so most people have their gambling fix i;n the casinos by the falls. We just wanted to see the infamous Falls. Hehhh. After looking at these photos , I am convinced that I need a camera upgrade.

We arrived in late evening so after a quick oohs and aahs and camera snapping session, we walked to the nearby Clifton Hill tourist district in search for dinner. What we found was an a la Las Vegas town, brimming with one after another American chain steakhouse restaurants.

On Sunday before catching our flight at late afternoon we went for a Caribbean festival along the harbourfront. I had Jamaica's famous jerk chicken!